Hiking Mount Tremper Tower
Since we want our friend to complete the Catskill Fire Tower Challenge, we took her hiking Mount Tremper tower first. This is one of the easiest hikes for me since the trail is just a continuous uphill. There are no downhills and uphills that would make this problematic. This might be a little boring for some people but it’s still a nice hike you can be proud of completing.
Hiking Mount Tremper is a three-mile hike to the tower but is not a 3500ft peak. The tower sits at 2720ft, and you can enjoy some fantastic 360 degrees views. We were pleasantly surprised to reach the tower and find the top open. Inside were three foldable chairs and a plastic bin. The bin contained an emergency radio, binoculars, and a paper explaining the location of the previous cabinets. We did not get to sit up here and enjoy the views as another hiker came, and we let him enjoy it to himself. We ate our snacks below the tower and then continued back down.
The plan was to do another hike, but our friend was tired from the 3.5-hour drive and was starting to stumble left and right. We decided to get pizza and show her Esopus tower instead. While waiting for our pizzas, we went for a walk and found the Tanbark Loop Trailhead. This is also where we would be coming out from when we complete Long Path section 19, one day. We decided to follow the blue trail to the giant rock formations and head back to get our pizza.
Upper Esopus Fire Tower Challenge
After getting pizza from Brio’s we went to the Upper Esopus fire tower. We parked by the porter potty and walked the trail to the tower. The top of the tower deck was closed, but the views from the section below were still beautiful. After completing the circle around the tower trail, we went to our car and drove back home.
While we would have liked to complete another fire tower hike, we will wait for another day. The year is not over, and we can still help her get her Catskill fire tower patch. We did ours in February when it was cold, and the trail was a frozen sheet of ice.
